katiecouric

With Diane Sawyer preparing to go head to head against Katie Couric on the evening news, and with the legendary Barbara Walters, at 80, still competitive but starting to slow down, ABC has to start grooming more women for its news franchises. No one seems to be in a better position to take advantage of this than the respected, if not redoubtable, Robin Roberts.

In an interview given to Katie Couric on '60 Minutes,' Andre Agassi comes clean on his hatred of tennis due to an overbearing father who wanted to groom him as an athlete from a very young age, a poor self image inspired by the loss of his trademark hair, and the depression that drove him to use crystal meth.

Agassi's father reportedly taped Ping-Pong paddles to his hands when he was a toddler and, at age 7, forced him to practice in front of a specially modified ball machine that lobbed tennis balls at 110 miles per hour. "I think he drove me hard because he drove himself hard," said Agassi. "Tennis was a passion that he had from when he was a little boy himself. He saw it as the quickest road to the American dream for his kid, something that he wanted for his family."

Every time I watch a TV talking head like Glenn Beck, I usually walk away with the same thought I had every time I walked out of my economics class in college: "What the hell were they talking about?"

That's because there isn't anything journalistic or scientific about their pontifications. It's all "gut talk," particularly Beck who throws around more wild and unfocused theories about the ongoing war between "us vs. them" than a homeless preacher in a bus station. Chances are if you actually sat down and simply asked him "what did you mean by (x)", he would give you a 1,700 word answer that answered everything but the question you asked him.

If the recession is still hurting your wallet, you may want to consider a career in TV.

TV Guide Magazine has released its annual list of the highest paid stars on television, highlighting salaries most people won't even see in their lifetime (as a preview: last season, the four 'Desperate Housewives' leads made a combined $38 million plus).

Walter Cronkite is a tougher act to follow than letting Metallica open for William Hung.

But now that the news legend and former most trusted man in America has passed on to that big newsroom in the great beyond, America needs someone else to trust. They need someone they can depend on to get the hard, cold facts about the important stories that truly affect their lives. They need someone to cut through the political haze of misdirection and mediocrity that cloud almost every major news story like a lingering beer fart.

That man is ... Jon Stewart. Don't like it? Blame the rest of the news media for not doing a better job.

It seemed like a respectful decision, but it felt a bit wrong to me. The voice over was a simple sentence: "This is the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." That's it. It felt like a good way to pay tribute to his immense contributions to television news and to bridge the years between his era and the current one. And, shockingly enough, it wouldn't have felt creepy at all, just comforting.

Cronkite's family must have felt the same way, as they've given CBS permission to keep using his voice at the top of the broadcast. How long CBS will keep doing it is anyone's guess. But if Billy Mays can keep selling Oxi Clean from the Great Beyond, why can't Uncle Walter keep introducing the news?

'The Tonight Show' has been a late-night institution for more than 50 years (yes, that's right -- half a century).

Jack Paar, who took over the reins from Steve Allen in '57, put the show on the map, with big-name guests and outspoken antics. Johnny Carson, who stepped in when Paar left, made the show appointment viewing for millions of fans and became one of the most beloved TV hosts of all time.

Now, with Jay Leno's last 'Tonight Show' airing Fri., May 29, and Conan O'Brien taking the desk while Leno makes the unprecedented move to prime time, to a 10 PM slot in the fall, we look back and count down the top 20 moments of 'The Tonight Show.'

CBS has had a rocky relationship with their new evening news anchor. The move to hire her after journalist Dan Rather went down in flames like a phoenix blasted out of the sky was heralded as a new dawn without realizing that it sets just as quick.

Couric has earned some respect for her work since Sarah Palin let her stick her brain in a Newton's Cradle and knock it back and forth until her "You betchas" became her "Okie dokies". But the news broadcast is still third in the ratings war and the egg hasn't completely been washed from CBS' face.

So until Palin announces her bid to run for head of Alaska's border patrol to keep those pesky Russians at bay, CBS hopes they can keep what little momentum they have going by doing for Couric what NBC just did for Jay Leno.

...Ew, not like that, you guys. Although, I'm sure if you did just a few minutes of Googling, you could find that too, in one form or another. What I'm talking about is Tina Fey's brilliant impression of vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. How good was the impression? It was so good that the episodes featuring Fey, and the one that featured Palin herself, were some of SNL's highest-rated episodes in years. Tina Fey's brilliant but ratings-challenged sitcom, 30 Rock received a ratings bump, she scored a multi-million dollar book deal, and newspapers sometimes forgot that they were actually two different people.Not bad for a funny lady who had never been known for her impressions and a governor from a small town no one had ever heard of.

Obama may have been our first celebrity candidate, but Palin was our first beauty queen. Whether you loved her or hated her, it's hard to argue that she was a captivating figure.

Earlier this week, I was watching the CBS Evening News while I was at the keyboard. That means I wasn't really watching the TV screen; I was listening to the tube while working on the Mac. Therefore, I didn't even notice that Katie Couric had a new haircut. Then, from the other room, my husband called to me and asked what I thought. "Thought about what?" I answered.

That was how I heard the "big" news that CBS anchor Katie Couric has a new look. Really, what does it matter? Why should it matter? She's presenting the news, not selling hair gel or mousse, right?

As I think about the past year, in both my life and in the world of TV, there's plenty I have to be thankful for. The life stuff is obvious: health, family, my girlfriend, a roof over my head, food on my plate, and a job that I enjoy. But the TV stuff isn't quite as obvious. So, as the balloons float over midtown Manhattan and people get ready to gorge themselves, here are a few things that made me happy to be a television watcher this year:

The election - Yes, it was too long. And, yes, it was exasperating at times. But it was the source of a lot of entertaining television. Of course, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report and SNL were in top form (Tina Fey became a huge star, thanks to Sarah Palin). But entertainment came in many forms this election season, from Katie Couric's skewering of Palin to David Letterman's spat with McCain to just about anything that came out of Joe Biden's mouth. Finally, I have three words of infinite entertainment for you: Chuck Todd's goatee.

Now that Senator John McCain is doing the most important thing in his campaign to become the 44th president of the United States, agreeing to appear The Late Show with David Letterman, I think we can say that the Straight Talk Express is on the way to being back on track.

It was inevitable, and really, really necessary, for McCain to fix this problem with Dave. McCain was the butt of the joke for nearly three weeks and it hasn't helped his campaign. Appearing Thursday should do a lot to ameliorate his image and in every way it can only be a win-win for McCain and Letterman.

Since emerging on the national stage about six weeks ago, Alaska Governor and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin has become a superstar. Like her or loathe her, she is a celebrity. It's ironic, really, that McCain's so psyched about her high-powered appeal, because that's what his campaign was knocking Obama for just this past summer. Still, the crowds have showed that Palin's appeal to the Republican base, at least, is fervent.

On the other hand, thanks to Palin's poor performance in interview segments with CBS anchor Katie Couric, and Tina Fey's spot-on impression of her on Saturday Night Live, the Governor's image has taken a hit. There have been questions about how smart she is, as well as how qualified she is to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Conventional wisdom says that vice presidents don't matter much when it comes time to vote, that people ultimately make their choice based on who's running for president. However, when it comes to debates, VEEPs are the main event.

The Nielsen numbers are in for last night's debate between Vice Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Sarah Palin and they're huge -- 69.9 million viewers watched the VEEP debate. That's a whopping 17.5 million more viewers than Barack Obama and John McCain drew for their first debate last Friday night.

Why were so many more people tuned in for Biden-Palin? There are a few reasons, starting with the curiosity about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Pew Research Center's biannual survey on how Americans get their news revealed significant shifts underway from print to new media, and even from television to the internet. But it looks like that idiot box remains our number one source for just what's going on in the world around us. The article shows the demographics to be pretty much where you'd expect them to be as far as who goes where for their news. The younger, more affluent and/or more educated you are the more likely you are to go online for your news. The older, poorer and less educated you are the more likely you are to rely on the TV.

I live in a pretty small town that's chock full of poor, uneducated people and I can assure you that most of those citizens still think of computers as that fancy technology they use in them colleges and whatnot. And the Internets, well that's where you go for sin! But the young people, who have grown up with computers and the web are more savvy than their parents and if they can afford a computer, then they're online. Most are playing World of Warcraft, but they're still on there.